Posted on 11/07/2001 10:37:51 PM PST by TaZ
Jethro, I had mentioned the "suicide by cop" on one of the previous threads about Cooper. I didn't weigh in immediately because I had wanted to read his writings and news reports. I didn't want to leap in with a knee-jerk reaction before I had some facts, nor did I want to make him into a martyr if he didn't deserve the status.
From what I can gather, it sounds like he was very angry, very depressed, and it seems now like he descended into madness. He alienated even his closest friends. He said he sent his wife and children out of the country for their own safety, but now I wonder if they left for their own safety against his anger and rage.
He did warn law enforcement on a number of occasions that if they tried to apprehend him, it would result in death. It seems like that was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The latest news reports--a news brief in the azcentral.com--said that the police chief had exercised a search warrant with very narrow grounds at Cooper's house, looking for evidence about the aggravated assault charges--and that the hospital was releasing no information about the sheriff's deputy he shot, which concerns me deeply.
Cooper had already written a considerable amount on a topic he felt he had been given private exposure to which involved an intricate mother of all conspiracy theories.
He wrote about it and publicized it out of concern and loyalty enuniciated in the ilk of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
That doesn't mean he was correct in everything he wrote, but IMHO he did devote considerable effort to document many of his beliefs and derived those beliefs in large part from personal experience and his personal research. i.e. he performed due diligence.
The fellow he threatened wasn't the type to take a hint, nor was he the type to be intimidated. But as a third party observer of hearsay, it's obvious that a man living on his own property surrounded by BLM real property has more interests vested in that real property than a stranger. Given Cooper's past public exposure of a conspiracy which he considered quite persuasive, it really isn't necessary for any stranger to continue to pursue Cooper onto Cooper's real property, i.e. trespass.
It might also be noted amongst those who are serious with weapons, that armed intimidation generally isn't employed. If the accusation that Cooper was an armed aggressor was true, then Cooper would have shot the trespasser without a verbal diatribe. The report that Cooper encountered the trespasser before the trespasser reached any other private property or property with possibly more interest by others than Cooper only reveals that Cooper respected his fellow man sufficiently to communicate to the trespasser that Cooper's interests had been violated to an extent beyond the uninformed might understand.
If I trespassed on somebody's property, I'd expect the same if not worse to happen to me.
Why do you believe you can intimidate a person on their own personal real property in rebellion to their property rights and then have the audacity to act insulted if they defend themselves?
If you've followed this Aggie's posts over the last year or so, you would know that he is an aberration. But, I think many of these posters are correct. Cooper and his ilk (including Alex Jones to whom I cannot listen) give credence to the arguments of those marginalizing "right-wing militias".
The militia members that I know include physicians, lawyers, businessmen, upstanding people--even the lawyer. But that characterization will never be publicized. Only the Coopers.
Cooper and others probably don't and won't have sufficient info to determine who was actually behind all of this, but the amount of intel and info and data which Cooper derived his theories from probably made him less targetable because of his publicity.
If the Intel community at the national level fails to investigate this incident with excruciating detail, then future intel sources will dry up. During a War on Terror, this means domestic enemies of the Constitution won't be reported upon as much, because nobady wants to be labeled a 'nut'. Whoever orchestrated this incident is NO friend of the Constitution.
I didn't see your mention of "suicide by cop" when I posted my comment, but needless to say, I completely agree with your assessment.
I've lisened to Cooper briefly over the years and the last few times I tuned in, he clearly was an angry, aging malcontent. I never followed or agreed with the 'no income tax, no drivers license' crowd, and Cooper took this mantra to a new height, imho.
I'm sorry he shot the cop, thereby condeming himself, but it seems clear that he chose which path he'd leave on.
Unfortunate stuff...
Your statement about Ruby Ridge is BS pure and simple. Randy Weaver was not threatening anyone who set foot on his land, although he technically had the right to do so.
I have several friends who are frankly on the looney right. They believe the government is compiling records on them, won' buy a gun from a dealer etc. The interesting thing about them is that they are all decent likeable people who, perhaps understandably, are paranoid about the government.
I also have a few acquaintances who are on the looney left. The real difference between them and those on the right is that they are nearly all just plain jerks, The type people who would sell their Mother into slavery. They are filled with hatred and bigotry against any conservative.
They both are wrong but one side is composed of good hard working people whose views are completely understandable in light of Ruby Ridge and Waco. The other side, of which you are imo a memeber are just plain creeps.
Not everyone can maintain the intestinal fortitude that Bill had for as long as he had it and I can see how he could descend into bitterness and depression considering the vast apathy of the American people in the face of their own enslavement. While it's obvious to me that he "lost it," Bill was the quintessential "canary in the coal mine." May he rest in peace.
I've noticed that as well. Cooper appeared to be an unstable true "wacko".
Apparently, there are a few more of them than I realized.
Cooper and his writing/speaking were always good for a laugh, IMNHO; I am saddened that he decided to threaten a fellow citizen for no good reason and subsequently decided to shoot it out with the sheriff's deputies.
Once the deputies identified themselves, Mr. Cooper had a choice. He made the wrong one. End of discussion.
Which, since he opted to shoot at known LEOs, states that William Cooper was NO friend of the Constitution.
Present some evidence to back up your comment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.